For years there had been agitation within the Park Service for some
emblem that would identify the Service as the shield did the Forest
Service. A contest was held in 1949 because it was thought at that time
that the only emblem used by the Service, the Sequoia cone, did not
adequately symbolize the bureau. The winner of the contest, Dudley
Bayliss, collected the fifty dollar prize, but his "road badge" design
was never used. Conrad L. Wirth, then in the Newton B. Drury
directorate, served on the review committee that made the winning
selection. He thought that Bayliss' design was "good and well presented,
but it was, as were most of the submissions, a formal modem type." They
had expected something that would have symbolized what the parks were
all about. [23]

Dr. Aubrey Neasham's suggested arrowhead emblem

Shortly after the contest was over, Aubrey V. Neasham, a historian in
the Region IV (now Western Region) Engineering Division in San
Francisco, in a letter to Director Drury, suggested that the Service
should have an emblem depicting its primary function "like an arrowhead,
or a tree or a buffalo." [24] With the letter
Neasham submitted a rough sketch of a design incorporating an elongated
arrowhead and a pine tree. Drury thought the design had "the important
merit of simplicity" and was "adequate so far as the symbolism is
concerned." [25]

When Wirth became director in 1951, he turned Neasham's design over
to Herbert Maier, then assistant director of Region IV. Maier's staff,
including Sanford "Red" Hill, Cecil J. Doty, and Walter Rivers, were all
involved in the design process and ultimately came up with the arrowhead
design in use today. [26]

The arrowhead was authorized as the official National Park Service
emblem by the Secretary of the Interior on July 20, 1951. While not
spelled out in official documents, the elements of the emblem symbolized
the major facets of the national park system, or as Wirth put it, "what
the parks were all about." The Sequoia tree and bison represented
vegetation and wildlife, the mountains and water represented scenic and
recreational values, and the arrowhead represented historical and
archeological values. [27]

The arrowhead was probably first used on an information folder for
Oregon Caves National Monument published in April 1952. It soon gained
recognition as the Service symbol and became widely used on signs and
publications. Instructions for its use on signs were first sent to the
field on September 25, 1952. [28]

Official 1952 NPS arrowhead emblem, also used to make shoulder patch

1954 revision of arrowhead emblem

Amendment No. 12, September 2, 1952, to the 1947 uniform regulations
prescribed the use of the arrowhead as a patch for the uniform. Enough
of these patches were sent to each area so that each permanent uniformed
employee received three and each seasonal uniformed employee received
one. The first patches were embroidered on a non-sanforized material and
could only be used on coats. Subsequent orders corrected this
problem.

At first there was only one size of patch. A reduced version was soon
produced for women. The smaller patch was also used on hats and the
fronts of jackets.

1952-present
ARROWHEAD PATCH

First authorized to be worn on uniforms in September 1952. Large
size (top) was initially used by both men and women. Women later used a
smaller patch (bottom). From 1964-1970, the small patch was used on
women's hats. In 1970 it began being used on the standard cap for men
and women.

To forestall unseemly commercial uses of the arrowhead design, an official notice, approved March 7, 1962,
was published in the Federal Register of March 15, 1962 (27 F.R. 2486),
designating it as the official symbol of the National Park Service. [29]

First day cover commemorating the 50th Anniversary of
the National Park Service. It was also the inauguration
of PARKSCAPE U.S.A.

In 1966, following MISSION 66, Director George B. Hartzog, Jr., came
forth with a new agenda titled PARKSCAPE U.S.A. Hartzog assured
employees that the symbol accompanying the program, three interlocking
angles surrounding three dots, would supplement rather than supplant the
arrowhead. In 1968, however, when Secretary Udall adopted the new
Interior seal (designed by the same New York firm of Chermayeff and
Geismar Associates), Hartzog seized the opportunity to replace the
arrowhead with the Parkscape symbol. With the buffalo gone from the
Interior seal, he rationalized, the arrowhead with its buffalo was no
longer relevant. Field reaction to this move was nevertheless
unenthusiastic, for the representational arrowhead was far better liked
than the abstract Parkscape symbol.

On March 3, 1969, Acting Director Edward Hummel sent a memorandum to
all regional directors ordering the removal of the arrowhead shoulder
patch. "In keeping with the Director's desire to act positively on field
suggestions, it has been decided that effective June 1, 1969, Service
emblem shoulder and cap patches will not be worn on any National Park
Service garments," he wrote. Before this unpopular directive could be
implemented, Secretary Hickel reinstated the buffalo seal. Hartzog
thereupon reinstated the arrowhead as the official NPS emblem and
continued its use as a patch in a memorandum dated May 15, 1969. Perhaps
as a gesture to the few supporters of the Parkscape symbol, he
simultaneously ordered its retention as the official NPS tie tack. The
arrowhead has continued to be worn on the uniform and to enjoy strong
acceptance among Service employees. [30]